1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods, systems and computer program products for real-time communication interfaces.
2. The Relevant Technology
The popularity of the Internet and satellite-based technologies has enhanced the way people communicate with each other by allowing users quick and easy access to a virtually endless sea of communication methods. Any given person may now contact another person with greater or lesser immediacy using various media that include accessing the World Wide Web, electronic mail (email), satellite-based or Internet-based telephony, video conferencing, and instant text messaging. These methods allow people to stay in touch with each other, and to access information on a variety of subjects, in some cases instantly.
Currently, instant text messaging (IM) is one of the more popular forms of relatively immediate or real-time communication. Such real-time communication allows a user to communicate with another user within a matter of seconds. In operation, real-time communication interfaces typically display a selectable contact list. When a user desires to communicate with a contact in real-time, the user may select a contact from the contact list and send real-time text communications to the user. In so doing, the user's message usually is received by the contact within a second or two of being sent. This ability to communicate with other contacts in such a short time highlights a number of advantages instant text messaging has over other types of electronic messaging, such as email.
Real-time communication users converse with other contacts typically using a separate conversation interface for each contact (i.e., one-on-one session), or one conversation interface for multiple contacts (i.e., chat session). Messages appear in each conversation interface in time-dependant alternating segments. Thus, users can monitor continuous text conversations through one conversation interface, even after multiple iterations of sending and receiving responses. This ability allows for a fluid real-time conversation between users. Thus, real-time communication provides many conveniences compared with other messaging protocols such as electronic mail.
Despite such conveniences, FIG. 1 illustrates some significant impediments that remain with present real-time communication interfaces. As shown, a prior art monitor 100 with a desktop screen 102 may display application icons 104, and several other open application interfaces. Such applications may include several different real-time communication applications 110, 120, and 130, an email application 140, and a word processing application 150. The monitor 100 may also display one or more incoming message notifications, e.g., notifications 160 and 170. These applications and notifications illustrate a significant problem in the prior art: intrusive notices and interfaces.
For example, incoming message notification 170 obstructs email interface 140, which itself obstructs word processing application 150. Email interface 140 and real-time communication interface 120 both obstruct real-time communication interface 130. Instant messenger interface 110 and incoming message notification 160 simply occupy currently unused desktop screen real estate. As a result, for a user to monitor the real-time communication conversations 110, 120, and 130, as well as to reference the word processing document 150 or email 140, the user must toggle between each of the different interfaces. In addition to obstructing other interfaces, notification 170 requires explicit user interaction in order to dismiss the notification so that the user can proceed with other, potentially more pressing tasks. Notification 160 automatically fades from view after a predetermined amount of time, giving the user a limited amount of time to take any desired action.
Although notifications 160 and 170 may display part of a received real-time message, neither notification represents a user interface for real-time communication. Note, for example, that notifications 160 and 170 do not include a text input box or other input field for composing real-time messages. If a user decides to participate in a real-time conversation by interacting with notifications 160 and 170, a separate user interface, such as user interfaces 110, 120, or 130, is launched. Once launched, user interfaces 110, 120, and 130 remain a fixed (maximized) size, regardless of the amount of user interaction with each user interface. For example, user interface 120 displays as shown until explicitly resized, moved, closed, or minimized by a user.
A user may attempt to remedy the screen space and multiple interface issues by arranging or resizing the various application interfaces. In addition, the user may simply turn off incoming message notifications 160 and 170 in order to avoid distractions. While most present GUI-based operating systems provide this ability to arrange various interfaces selectively, having to explicitly interact with multiple user interfaces can be burdensome. Accordingly, methods, systems, and computer program products that make real-time communication user interfaces less intrusive by automatically adjusting the user interfaces based on a user's level of interaction are desired.